LATEST HOMILY
29st SUNDAY of ORDINARY TIME
October 18, 2026

Focus: God demands conformity over comfort. 
Function: Make yourself uncomfortable with comfort and conform ourselves to conviction in Christ Jesus. 

A. Hard Work Never Killed Anyone:

• Many of my days working on a farm with my father, 
• I had no choice but to pick tomatoes every January to,
• February. Of course, 24 years ago, I was not as big and, 
• Tall as I am now, so I struggled with carry heavy buckets,
• Of tomatoes. I fell down many days carrying those,
• Buckets, I got scraped and cuts with thistles and,
• And thorns. I had to wash jars that the tomato sauce, 
• Would be placed in. I also had to place tomatoes in the,
• Grinder which could be dangerous at times.  
• Unfortunately, it was not electrical so I had to turn the,
• Shaft with my hand. I remembered one day I was,
• Pushing down tomatoes in the grinder and one my,
• Fingers got caught in the machine. I had to reverse the,
• The grinder in order to get my finger out and there was a,
• Huge gash in my index finger.  I started to question why I, 
• Had to do all this work and I never understood why,
• Our family simply could not just buy tomatoes out of the,
• Foodstore and call it day. To be honest, I did not,
• Understand why my father even had a farm. The gash I,
• Received on my finger opened up a lot of resentment,
• I had towards my father for making me do all of that hard,
• Work. After I finished complaining with blood dripping, 
• Down my finger, my father stopped his work,
• Looked me straight in my,
• Eyes and said these five words: “Hard work never killed, 
• Anyone.” And he continued working. 
•  As I cleaned my cut, those words echoed, 
• Through my mind like a scratched record. In those few, 
• Words my father saved me from a number of vices one of, 
• Them definitely being sloth.

B. The Horrid & Deadly Sin of Sloth

• Jesus is not unfamiliar with the sin of sloth and he,
• Confronts the hypocrisy of those Pharisees who live out, 
• The sin well. The Pharisees were the best at following the,
• Law. They were the best at checking off the boxes and,
• Making sure what needed to be done was done. However, 
• That’s all these men did. Check off boxes. They washed,
• Their cups and dishes and their feet but not their hearts. 
• They did preach the law of God but,
•  Never carried out the spirit,
• Of the law for themselves. They taxed people for every,
• Seed and dill but never sacrificed for others nor showed, 
• Mercy to them. This is why Jesus calls them hypocrites, 
• Because they do all of these practices and rituals simply,
• Because it is the law and what Moses has commanded,
• Them to do through the law. 
• They are not convicted by the Spirit. 
• They do not look inside,
• Of their hearts and souls and really ask themselves, am I, 
• Really doing what the law of Moses is asking of me? 
• No, rather it is easier to do the bare minimum and move, 
• About their day. They are more focused on covering their, 
• Backsides than doing anything with conviction. Jesus,
• Sees right through their pathetic antics and tells them,
• The very thing they need to do rather than focusing on, 
• Something that has nothing to do at all with their,
• Salvation!  

C. ALL Or NOTHING!

• And that is the point of the Gospel for this Sunday. 
• It is not about simply giving to God what belongs to God. 
• Many Christians give to God what belongs to,
• God but many do not do it with a good heart. Sometimes, 
• Many of us come to Mass simply because we need to, 
• Fulfill that Sunday obligation and continue, 
• About our merry way. What a lie to live in! If we are,
• Coming here just to check off the boxes to make sure, 
• We receive communion, to make sure our kids receive all, 
• Their sacraments and then they can do whatever they,
• Want, then I have sad news. We will not see God’s face. 
• Saint Paul says to the Church in Thessalonica: “For our,
• Gospel did not come to you in word alone. But also in,
• Power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.”
• This means that when God gives us His Word, when He,
• Gives us His Son in the Eucharist He expects something, back. 
• He expects us to give of ourselves, he expects us to, 
• Go the extra mile for someone else. He expects us like,
• Me who got my finger cut, to suck it up and learn to give, 
• Of yourself as Christ has done for us! We fail to,
• Understand that just like King Cyrus God gives us the,
• Power and protection to fight against evil. He is the, 
• One that provides all things for us. Not our skills, not our, 
• Bank accounts and not our good resumes. It is God and,
• Him alone. And like Job we can go from pomp and,
• Circumstance to pity and catastrophe. It only takes,
• The snap of a finger. God does not desire us to serve, 
• Him for His sake. He desires us to go the extra mile for,
• Our sake, for our salvation. If someone asks you to do,
• Something for the Church it is for the salvation of our,
• Brothers and sisters and most importantly for you. 
• God’s Church is already built up in Heaven, he does not, 
• Need us. He asks of us for us! And when we come to,
• Understand that and live that Gospel message then we, 
• See why we must give to God what belongs to God.
• Hard work never killed anyone. Because in doing for
• Christ and his Church we do right by our souls and we, 
• Do right by others. 
• How do we expect to get into Heaven when all we did, 
• On earth is live for ourselves. How do we expect to reap,  
• The fruits of salvation when,
• We only lived for ourselves. 
• We cannot expect to get into heaven with that attitude, 
• AND WE WON’T! Mary and all of The Apostles gave,
• Up everything on earth so they can have everything in,
• Heaven, and to spend a few minutes with Jesus once a,
• Week is the greatest distress. Make it make sense. 
• That’s because it doesn’t. 
• When we understand that if God takes his mind off of us, 
• For just a quick second we will no longer exist; then we, 
• Will know why Jesus says give to God what, 
• belongs to God. Because when we give back to him, 
• our everything, our all in all, we return to him everything, 
• that keeps us alive, that keeps us in His grace. But when, 
• We decide to be flippant with God, 
• Then God will be flippant with our salvation.
• We can only reap what we so.
• Hard work, never killed anyone but the spirit of sloth did, 
• And it still does. 
• That is why it is called a deadly sin. 
• Give to God what belongs to God. For with Him it is all,
• Or NOTHING! 

AMEN.